2007 was the year that working-class Indians in the Diaspora flexed their collective muscle.
In Malaysia, HINDRAF -- or the Hindu Rights Action Force -- earned significant international attention during the last few months.
To spotlight the persecution of and discrimination against ethnic Tamil Hindus in Malaysia -- about 8 per cent of the total population -- HINDRAF organised massive rallies and protests in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, in November.
The Malaysian government clamped down, invoking draconian security laws to deal with protesters, even alleging the agitators were trying to establish links with Sri Lanka’s dreaded Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
India made its displeasure known, and the latest is that Malaysia has promised to look into the issue of demolition of Hindu temples.
In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, roughly 8,000 workers of ETA Ascon went on strike, demanding an increase in salary and airplane tickets to return home every two years for leave. Though Bangladeshis and Nepalis were present, the majority of protesters were from India.
The violent strike came to serve as the face for a much larger movement to improve the dismal working conditions of the UAE's mammoth expatriate workforce.
Image: Protesters run for cover as Malaysian riot police fire tear gas during a demonstration by ethnic Indians in Kuala Lumpur in November.
Photograph: AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Indians take to the streets of Kuala Lumpur
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